Chawton House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chawton House |
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Chawton House from the North West, 2008
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| Location | Chawton, England |
Chawton House is a beautiful old manor house in Hampshire, England. It is a very important historical building. The house you see today was started way back in 1580.
Later, in the late 1700s, it became the home of Edward Austen Knight. He was the wealthy brother of the famous writer Jane Austen. For a long time, the house was owned by private families.
Then, a special group bought it. They fixed it up and turned it into a place for learning and research. It is now a research center that works with the nearby University of Southampton. It has a huge collection of over 9,000 books and old papers. It is also home to a special library called The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830.
Today, Chawton House welcomes visitors and people who want to use its library. You can take tours and attend public events. The beautiful parkland around the house is always open for walks. You might even see a herd of sheep!
Contents
The History of Chawton House
The current Chawton House began being built in 1580 by a man named John Knight. It was built on the site of an even older manor house. The Knight family had owned this land since 1551. Over the years, changes were made to the house in the 1700s and 1800s.
The house is made of flint stone with special stone decorations and a tiled roof. The front of the house that faces south has two main floors and an attic. You can see three pointed roof sections, called gables, in the picture.
John Knight was an important person in his time. He was a Member of Parliament for Lymington and also the High Sheriff of Hampshire.
The house stayed in the Knight family for many years. When the male family line ended, it passed to relatives who sometimes changed their last name to Knight to inherit the house. One of these relatives was Edward Austen, the older brother of Jane Austen. He also added Knight to his name.
The house continued to be owned by the Knight family until 1987. By then, the house was in poor condition. Richard Knight, who owned it at the time, sold it in 1992.
Chawton House is located on about 275 acres (1.1 square kilometers) of countryside in Hampshire. After a lot of work to fix it up, it is now open to visitors. It is also used for meetings, weddings, and has even been a location for some films.
The Church Next Door
Between Chawton House and the main road is a church called St Nicholas.
The church building you see today was built in 1872. However, a sign there says that a church has stood on this spot since 1289! The main part of the current church was paid for by Sir Arthur Blomfield after a fire in 1871.
In the churchyard, you can find the graves of Cassandra Austen and her mother. Cassandra was the older sister of the famous writer Jane Austen.
The Special Library
In 1992, a special group bought the right to use Chawton House for 125 years. They paid £1.25 million. This group was started by Sandra Lerner and Leonard Bosack, who were the people who started the company Cisco Systems.
The Library officially opened in 2003 for expert scholars. It has a collection of over 9,000 books and original old papers.
The Library works closely with the University of Southampton. It is a very important place for students studying the 1700s.
In 2015, the house started welcoming general visitors, not just scholars.
Women Writers' Focus
Chawton House Library is a special place for research and study. It focuses on books written by women in English between 1600 and 1830. The main goal of the library is to help people study and learn about early women's writing. Ms. Sandy Lerner created this library in the late 1990s. She wanted to honor the amazing writing that Jane Austen gave to the world and inspire other women writers.
Some of the female authors whose works are found at the Library include:
- Jane Austen (1775–1817)
- Aphra Behn (1640–1689)
- Frances Burney (1752–1840)
- Mary Shelley (1797–1851)
- Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797)
You can find a full list of authors and books on the Chawton House website.
Knight Family Books
The Library also has a collection of books that belonged to the Knight family. This family owned and lived at Chawton House for 400 years. These books were once owned by Edward Austen Knight, Jane Austen's brother. It is known that Jane Austen herself used these books for her own reading and research.
Books Online Project
The Novels Online project is an ongoing effort to make rare books from the Chawton House Library available for free online. This helps new readers discover these old stories.
These books cover many different topics like funny stories, slavery, marriage, witchcraft, and pirates. The online versions are exactly like the original books, even keeping any printing mistakes.
The Beautiful Gardens
The gardens at Chawton House are open to everyone when the house is open. There is also a tearoom called The Old Kitchen Tearoom. A lot of work was done to restore the gardens, especially the Walled Garden.
Edward Knight had the idea to build a new walled garden when Jane Austen was alive. In 1813, Jane Austen wrote a letter to her brother saying that Edward wanted a new garden because the old one was not good. Edward Knight's original walls are still mostly there, but the glasshouses and potting sheds had to be rebuilt.
The gardens have been restored to look like Edward Austen Knight's original plan. The main part of the garden is used to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Chawton House is officially recognized as an organic farm. Everything grown in the walled garden is used by the Library, and any extra is sold locally to help the charity.
The park and gardens of Chawton House are listed as important historical parks and gardens in England.
Jane Austen's Connection
Chawton House is only about 400 meters (about a quarter of a mile) away from the small house where Jane Austen lived for the last eight years of her life. That small house is now the Jane Austen's House Museum. It is a large house from the 1600s in the middle of Chawton village. It has been kept as a museum since 1947 to remember Jane Austen. Chawton House and Jane Austen's House are run by separate charities.
Jane Austen often visited Chawton House, which she called the 'Great House'. She mentioned it many times in her letters. Edward Austen also let his brother, Francis Austen, use the house. Edward Austen himself lived at Godmersham Park. However, his son, Edward Knight II, moved to Chawton House after he got married. He sold Godmersham Park after his father passed away.
Chawton House is also where the Jane Austen Society of the United Kingdom holds its yearly meeting. In 2003, the Jane Austen Society of North America also held a big anniversary meeting in the grounds of Chawton House.
Visiting Chawton House
Chawton House & Gardens is open to the public almost every day in the summer. If you want to use the library's collections, you can also get access to the Library itself.
Fun Events
Many events are held regularly at the library. These events cover different topics about the House, the Gardens, and the materials in the Library. Some of these events include:
- Talks by visiting experts
- Exhibitions of interesting items
- Arts events
- Other special events like Heritage Open Days, Garden Tours, and early morning walks.
The Library also offers educational visits for schools, colleges, and universities. This gives teachers and students a chance to learn about many different topics inside a real historic building. They can choose from a set program or ask for a special visit to study specific areas in more detail.
